Work

Crack Initiation in Viscoelastic Materials

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: In viscoelastic materials, individually short-lived bonds collectively result in a mechanical resistance which is long lived but finite as, ultimately, cracks appear. Here, we provide a microscopic mechanism by which a critical crack length emerges from the nonlinear local bond dynamics. Because of this emerging length scale, macroscopic viscoelastic materials fracture in a fundamentally different manner from microscopically small systems considered in previous models. We provide and numerically verify analytical equations for the dependence of the critical crack length on the bond kinetics and applied stress.

Source: Physical Review Letters

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.120.268002

Authors: Yuval Mulla, Giorgio Oliveri, Johannes T. B. Overvelde, Gijsje H. Koenderink

Institution: Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics

Language: English

Topic: Fatigue and fracture mechanics

Subfield: Mechanics of Materials

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, H2020 European Research Council

Award: G1911960314